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Sunday, 29 January 2017

Delta Bush Refineries And Other Stories

By Mathew B Oyedele

The exhibition, titled “Delta Bush Refineries and Other Stories” by Akintunde Akinleye is
a collection of life in the Delta. It shed lights into the activities of the
people involved in the vandalization of oil pipeline and asks the fundamental
question, ‘why are they doing it?

A capture from the lens of Akintunde Akinleye

The theory of art as expression seems to be the
fundamental concetto of execution in the exhibited works of Akintunde Akinleye.
The works clarified and refined the ideas and feelings that are shared with the
spectator and bluntly tell them the secrets of their own hearts. He did not set
out to criminalize the youths who are engaged in the oil bunkering but to bring
Nigeria’s inability to address corruption to the limelight. He is concerned
about being socially responsible to tell the stories of burning issues in the
country.

It is a known fact that Nigeria is endowed with
enormous natural resources and crude oil has arguably been a sustaining factor
for the country since its discovery in the village of Oloibiri, Bayelsa State
in 1956. It has contributed to the development, growth and domestic violence
that have left unforgettable scars in the country. Uncountable lives have gone
beyond the Aegean in the course of protecting, vandalizing and inoculating
crude oil in the country. These are the results of the misappropriation of oil
proceeds which threatens the country’s peace.

The expectation of the Delta people was raised at the
discovery of this rare commodity. They were promised that the region will
experience accelerated growth, infrastructural development, and stabilized
economy but the reverse is the case as the elites and the political class carts
away the proceeds from oil to acquire material assets for themselves at the expense
of the nation’s collective development. Ironically, these political class hides
under the cloak of unemployed youths to drain the country of her natural
wealth. These were captured in the photographs of Akintunde Akinleye.

Crude oil, has given the country a stable position in
the global scene and the poverty level of the country is still nothing to write
home about. How do we classify a country whose policies do not favour the
masses? Instead of the country to develop policies that would alleviate the level
of poverty in the country, they develop policies that criminalize zealous
youths who have neglected their various certificates for menial jobs that
sustain them.

Akinleye used this arena to penetrate into the
oil-infected activities of the Delta and the politics of oil that has expanded
the leaking hole of the country’s political bowl. Nevertheless, the country
pours more money into the begging bowl which leaks into the confines of the
political class and the masses are curious to see the leakages. They want to
see facts that challenge cynicism and tell the people what is effective and
what is not. Facts like people want to be free and when they are free, liberty
is usually around the corner.

Bird eye view capture from the lens of Akintunde Akinleye

Thrilled with the works of Akintunde Akinleye, the Curator
of the exhibition, Oliver Enwonwu said “he is an artist we are very proud of
and he is an award winning artist. He has won a major prize as the World Press
Photographer. Showing his works here today is something that gives us a
tremendous pride because not only are the works aesthetically pleasing but they
tackle an issue in the society. You can see what he is doing with raising
awareness of the plight of the people of Niger Delta. The fact that they do not
have an arable land, the fact that their waters are oil infected, the fact that
the indigenous oil companies there are not doing much to alleviate poverty.
These are things that Akintunde has brought to the fore and that is one of the
major functions of art. Art should critique the society and should bring
unnoticed things to the public. He has not only woven an aesthetic story but
talks about major issues that affect every Nigerian.”

Crucially, if the proceeds from crude oil are wisely
spent, there will be debt cancellation, a tripling of aid and an increase in
foreign direct investment which will unlock a whopping amount of domestic
resources and double education complete rates in Nigeria. This can only be done
through the use of the only vaccine for corruption; transparency. This sets an
open battle between the people and the government. And if the battle continues,
the people will win. As Wael Ghonim said, “we are going to win because we do
not understand politics. We are going to win because we do not play their dirty
games. We are going to win because we do not have a party political agenda. We
are going to win because the tears that come from our eyes actually come from
our hearts. We are going to win because the power in people is much stronger
than the people in power.”

Award winning documentary photographer, Akintunde
Akinleye held his exhibition at the Omenka Gallery from the 17th -31st
December 2016. It was a platform that generated an ambience for societal
reflection and took the audience into a realm that is often intentionally
ignored.

2 comments:

This is one of the essential roles that art plays in the society! Akintunde Akinleye has indeed not just woven an aesthetic story but also raised an issue that affects every Nigerian! However, the writer, Matthew B. Oyedele has also relayed the message through this excellent article!One cogent lesson I learnt is this: 'The power in people is much stronger than the people in power!'